As stated by Kurt W.
Mortensen in Maximum Influence, “The
Law of Involvement suggests that the more you engage someone’s five senses,
involve them mentally and physically, and create the right atmosphere for
persuasion, the more effective and persuasive you’ll be” (Mortensen 44). In
other words, the more you engage someone’s five senses and encourage
participation the more successful your persuasive attempts will be. I don’t use
the Law of Involvement in my everyday life, and I find it hard to remember I time
in which I have ever used it. This may be due to the fact that I have never
worked as a salesman, or have had an occupation which requires such skills. It
isn’t necessary for me to use this law in my life right now, but I know that
will change as I get into my career because so many careers require such
persuasive skills. So as the semester progresses I want to make an effort to
find ways in which I can practice using the Law of Involvement, whether it is
with my family or complete strangers. Putting the effort in now to get familiar
with this law will allow me to thoroughly develop my ability to use it as my
life progresses. Although I haven’t used it, I have countless memories in which
the Law of Involvement has been used on me.
Movie sequels are a great example of how the Law of Involvement
can be successful. Most movies always end at clever places that make you want
to know what happens. That is, the movies want to leave the ending open ended
so the viewers don’t know the whole story. Films of the 21st century
have made it a habit of teasing viewers with post credit scenes of what is to
come in the next movie. This makes the viewers want to know what happens next,
so they are persuaded to go and see the movie’s sequel to know what happens
next. This is an example of the Zeignarik effect, which is “the tendency we
have to remember uncompleted thoughts, ideas, or tasks more than completed ones”
(Mortensen 63). In other words, people can’t stand not knowing the end of
stories and they will remember uncompleted stories more than completed ones.
This example has proven to be successful because I already know ahead of time
what movies coming out in the future that I will spend my money on.
My second example
of the Law of Involvement is how pet stores encourage hands-on experiences. I
have fallen victim to pet stores countless times in my life because they are a
very powerful foe in regards to persuasion. One day my mother and I went to the
Humane Society to look into buying a kitten, but we weren’t concrete on the
matter. As we entered the building I saw the kitten through a glass wall,
sleeping like an angel in her bed. At that moment I didn’t care what we had to
do to get her because she was going home with me. To get me even more solidified
on the matter, an employee encouraged my mother and I to go into her room and
get to know her a bit. As I walked through the door she looked at me with her
little eyes and stretched. I picked her up and she cuddled herself into my
arms, at which point I heard nothing my mother or the employee had said from there
on out. The love was completely unconditional and I became instantly attached
to her, which made it impossible to say no to the employee. In the end we adopted
the kitten because we fell in love with her instantly. Even though we probably
would have adopted her without holding her, it made it absolutely impossible to
say no when we had the hands-on experience. The Humane Society was extremely
successful in their persuasion attempt because they showed us that we needed
the kitten and that we have been missing out on her love, all through the Law
of Involvement (Mortensen 55).
My final example which demonstrates successful usage of
the Law of Involvement is State Farm’s “Discount Double Check” commercials. I
feel that they are successful because State Farm does an exemplary job of
telling mesmerizing stories, using appropriate humor, and creating mental
involvement. Their commercials tell stories which simplify concepts that the
audience can understand, which help them arrive to their own conclusions by
themselves. In other words, people accept the answers a story gives more than
if they were to be provided the answers directly by someone; we like finding
the answers on our own. Their hilarious stories give people the room to think
and persuade themselves without having to throw statistics and facts at the
audience (Mortensen 61-62). They are successful in their attempt to persuade
the audience because whenever someone mentions State Farm I unconsciously and
automatically think of their comical commercials. I have positive associations
with State Farm, which contributes to persuading me to be more likely to get
State Farm Insurance rather than another insurance company.
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